Our industry-oriented course curriculum is a unique hybrid of theoretical and practical aspects that ensures a collaborative learning process through interactive sessions with film industry experts, and hands-on experience of practicing the craft on a regular basis.
Our students also undergo rigorous study in several co-curricular studies like Film Appreciation, International Art Literature Culture, Production Design & Music.
Degree courses in Filmmaking are accredited by the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development.
Department Overview
Ashwini Kaul
Head of Department
Cinematography
Ashwini Kaul
Member of ISC (Indian Society of Cinematographers)
Head of Department
Mr. Ashwini Kaul is a graduate from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. He began his career by working on various advertising TVC and corporate films before he began his journey in films. He has worked on various award-winning fiction, non-fiction feature films, short films and also shot films in 3D. He went on to conduct workshops at FTII and Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) and has authored article on photography for photography magazines. His association with Whistling Woods International has been more than a decade old where he heads the department of cinematography.
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Krishhnamurthy
Faculty
Krishhnamurthy
Faculty
Mr. Krishhnamurthy has spent over 39 years in the Indian film industry and has had a remarkable career throughout. He holds a Diploma in Cinematography from Pune Film Institute. He kick-started his career as a director of photography and worked with industry-stalwarts like Pramod Chakravorty, Hema Malini, Jeetendra (in the movie Dream Girl) at the beginning of his career. He has worked with numerous incredible Indian films as First Assistant and an Operative Cameraman and worked with some of the best actors of Indian film industry like Dharmendra, Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Rekha, Sharmila Tagore and many more. His area of expertise extends to the Televisions series and Corporate films as well. Mr. Krishhnaurthy has worked on about 200 ad movies too.
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Chandrashekar Iyer
Faculty
Chandrashekar Iyer
Faculty
Mr. Chandrashekar Iyer has studied BSc from RUIA college, Mumbai. He is an active member of W.I.C.A (Western India Cinematographers Association) managing committee and Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal. For the past 18 years, he has been a member of the Indian film and television industry, working as a cameraman and assistant cameraman over feature films, documentaries, AD Films, and TV Series. Mr. Iyer has also done TV serials in Marathi, Gujrati Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, and Kannada. He has won state award and zee award for the Marathi movie he worked. His remarkable portfolio includes films for Dubai Duty-free, AD films for Johnson’s baby brand, promotional films for Europe Tourism and much more. For many years now, he has been affiliated with Whistling Woods International and is a sought-after professor in the department of cinematography.
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Manoj Peter
Faculty
Manoj Peter
Faculty
Mr. Manoj Peter holds a Postgraduate Degree (Science) and Postgraduate Diploma in Cinema from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, specialising in cinematography. Before joining FTII he was actively involved in theatre. His diploma film ‘A Brief Journey’ at FTII, directed by Kavita Joshi, was selected in the 6th International Student Film Festivities-Aviv, in France in 1997 & for Indian panorama screening (International Film Festival of India, 1997). Having experience of 26 years in the industry, he began his career as an associate cameraman with India’s leading award-winning cinematographers in various Indian and international productions including feature films, commercials, documentary films, multi-cam shoots for Disney, POGO, Sab TV, BBC, NGC, MTV, and other channels. He has worked in award-winning feature films and contributed to Karan Johar’s ‘KKHH’. Some of his notable work includes promotional Film on Polio Vaccination for WHO featuring actor Amitabh Bachchan for BBC, and ‘Pride of India’ series, for StarPlus.
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Mitesh Parvathaneni
Faculty
Mitesh Parvathaneni
Faculty
A Whistling Woods International alumni, Mr. Mitesh Parvathaneni specialised in Cinematography from School of Filmmaking.
While he possesses immense knowledge of professional digital cameras and their technical specifications, he is also proficient in Colour Grading on DaVinci Resolve and can Pre-Visualise lighting and blocking using the Cine Tracer programme.
Mitesh Parvathaneni has worked for a travel show as the 2nd Unit DOP, Nexa Experiences which premiered on the Discovery channel. He has also been a part of several online fashion promos, web series, along with corporate films.
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Abhijit Mazumdar
Head of Department
Direction
Abhijit Mazumdar
Head of Department
Mr. Abhijit Mazumdar is a direction alumnus of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. His portfolio includes some the award winning regional short films and tele films. One of his directorial venture won a National Award for Sound Design. Couple of his films were showcased at some of the renowned film festivals across the world like Glasgow Short Film Festival, Karlovy Vary Short Film Festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, Torino Film Festival He has also been a jury member for Short and Non-Fiction films at the Indian panorama Film Festival in 2016. His association with Whistling Woods International started more than a decade ago as a faculty and now he heads the Department of Direction.
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Paresh Kamdar
Faculty
Paresh Kamdar
Faculty
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Koel Sen
Faculty
Koel Sen
Faculty
Ms. Koel Sen is Filmmaker, Artist and an Academician who has graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) with a Postgraduate Diploma in Film Direction. Ms. Sen won a scholarship from the Université d’été (Summer Program) at La Fémis, Paris, specialising in French Documentary Cinema. During her tenure as a filmmaker, she has scripted and directed several short films that have been received at various Asian and International film festivals of repute. Ms.Sen has also directed and produced ad-films, PSA’s and short documentaries in the past and worked at various production houses in Mumbai.
She is often a presenter and moderator at different film panels to discuss cinema. Ms. Sen has also been working in the field of video art with live performances at various Art and Music events. Ms. Sen is currently working on her first feature-length script.
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Sudipto Acharyya
Faculty | Head of Affiliations & Academics, Short Course Unit
Sudipto Acharyya
Faculty
Mr. Sudipto Acharyya is and alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, in direction and screenplay. He further pursued his master’sdegree in Film Studies from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. His independent work portfolio includes a wide range of movies for both Hindi and Bengali Cinema, including Film, TV, and Corporate Films. Mentoring students on their dialogue and diploma film scripts, Sudipto Acharyya has been at the forefront of conducting numerous workshops across the country for his students. He was an active participant in recent CILECT conferences in Lithuania, North America, and Johannesburg. He is part of an Artistic Research project involving BRICS nation that looks at social interstices with the help of cinematic practices.
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Vedanti Chandrakant Dani
Faculty
Vedanti Chandrakant Dani
Faculty
Ms. Vedanti Chandrakant Dani holds a diploma in Film Directionfrom Whistling Woods International. She started her career as a writer, director, and editor working on Marathi feature films and continued to assist with various short films, web shows, and ads. She has written and directed 32 short films and two movies; at various film festivals, many of which have been awarded forbest screenplay, best director and best film. Vedanti Dani has been a panelist at the Jaipur International Film Festival and a member of the jury. She also takes workshops throughout in theater and screenwriting on an ongoing basis.
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Sharad Raj
Faculty
Sharad Raj
Faculty
Mr. Sharad Raj has more than 20 years of experience in the identification and development of TV assets of high quality. From conception to telecast, he has successfully powered several projects. Mr.Sharad Raj has been an integral member of the core team of Zee TV and one of the two Indian consultants to Channel 9, the Australian television giant. He holds a Film Direction degree from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune and a New York Screenwriting diploma. He started his career as a director and worked on many short films and feature films, and as a senior creative director, he has successfully conceptualised and released 24 shows. Mr. Raj has just completed his debut feature film, ‘Ek Betuke Aadmi Ki Afrah Raatein’ starring Adil Hussain and the film is currently doing rounds of film festivals. It premiered at Toulouse Indian Film Festival and will be released in France early next year.
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Prashant Naik
Head of Department
Editing
Prashant Naik
Head of Department
Mr. Prashant Naik, a reputed National Award-winning Film Editor, is a working professional as well as Head of Department, Editing, School of Filmmaking at Whistling Woods International. Prashant, specialised in Editing at the FTII, Pune, after completing a Graduate degree in Law and a Post-graduate degree in Commerce. His FTII Diploma film Punaravritti received the National Award in the Best Short Fiction category.
Prashant won the National Award for Best Editing for the film Harvest of Hunger in the Non-Feature Film category from President Dr. Abdul Kalam. He has done live editing for Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia in Wankhede Stadium in the year 1996.
Over the years he has edited several corporate films, ad films, promotional films and documentaries and feature films. He has been one of the curators for MAMI, an International Film Festival in Mumbai attracting films from all over the world. He was a former Board Member – Syllabus Committee for Editing at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad and KIIT, Bhubaneswar.
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Vivian Pimenta
Faculty
Vivian Pimenta
Faculty
Mr. Vivian Pimenta has been associated with Whistling Woods International, since 2006. He has extensive experience in instruction on Avid Media Composer Editing Workflow, and DaVinci Resolve Colour Correction.Mr. Pimenta is an official Avid Certified Trainer- Media Composer Editing 101/110, and also a DaVinci Resolve Certified Trainer.
He was previously employed with Film and Television Institute, Pune, in the Editing Department over a period of 4 years.He is presently involved in training film school students on Avid and Resolve workflow, coupled with project support. His industry experience includes working with Sony Broadcast and Professional Group, in the area of Television studio business.
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Rajesh Parmar
Faculty
Rajesh Parmar
Faculty
Mr. Rajesh Parmar is a two-times winner of the National Awards in Non-Feature Film Editing as Best Editor for Sanchari (1991) and Colors of Absence (1993), both films directed by Arun Khopkar. He then worked as an editor on several award-winning feature films and non-feature films. One of such film ‘Art in Exile’, was an opening film at IFFLA, Los Angeles. An FTII alumnus with an editing degree, Rajesh Parmar has previously been a member of the jury, Non-Feature Films for the 46th National Film Awards, IDPA (Indian Documentary Producers Association), and curator of a few MAMI Film Festivals. In addition, Mr. Parmar created AD films for Visa, FIFA World Cup, Taj Hotels, Mercedes and edited 150 odd ads. He recently has also written the script for an Odiya feature film, ‘Spandan’.
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Rabiya Nazki
Head of Department
Producing
Rabiya Nazki
Head of Department
Ms. Rabiya Nazki is a versatile and seasoned professional with rich experience in creative producing, script writing, direction, film production, account management and strategic planning. Working with well-known organisations across arts and entertainment, she has produced ad films, corporate AVs, fiction and non-fiction shows. Before joining Whistling Woods International, she launched the HS18 Channel of Network18 and headed the programming department. Her association with Whistling Woods International began more than a decade ago where she began as a senior professor – Producing Department and now heads the department. She mentors students’ projects from ideation till the final execution.
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Jyoti Nisha
Faculty
Jyoti Nisha
Faculty
Ms. Jyoti Nisha is an independent writer and filmmaker based in Mumbai. She is an experienced journalist, a trained academic writer, screenwriter and filmmaker offering 10 years of work experience in print, radio and TV.
She introduced a new theory – ‘Indian Cinema and the Bahujan Spectatorship’ in the Economic and Political Weekly opposing the popular Indian culture’s twisted and casteist male gaze and its stereotypical representation of the marginalised; earlier called as untouchables, on the silver screen. Bahujan Spectatorship explores the consumption and experience of spectatorship of popular cinema’s representation of caste, gender & sexuality by the marginalised Bahujans of India.
Jyoti has written for Economic and Political Weekly, The Times of India, The Indian Express, NDTV and also academic articles with major focus on cinema, entertainment, caste, gender and media. She also worked as a Director’s Assistant to filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan for a short titled Geeli Pucchi (that explores gaze, caste, gender & patriarchy) released on Netflix in an anthology – Ajeeb Daastaans, produced by Dharma Productions. Her crowdfunded film, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar: Now & Then’ which she is co-producing with Pa. Ranjith’s Neelam Production is to release soon.
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Abhishek Tripaathi
Faculty
Abhishek Tripaathi
Faculty
Mr. Abhishek Tripaathi is an Economics Graduate and a Film Diploma holder from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. He has worked in the Film & Media Industry for close to 20 years as a Creative Producer and Director. He has also worked in the Television industry on several fictional/ nonfictional shows along with a few feature films. He has directed many AD films for advertising agencies and has a notable teaching experience in the field of Media & Entertainment.
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Anjali Panjabi
Faculty
Anjali Panjabi
Faculty
Ms. Anjali Panjabi is a filmmaker and an independent producer. She has several years of experience working on Indian, as well as on international projects.
Some of the filmmakers she has worked with include Mira Nair, Sooni Taraporevala and Farhan Akhtar. Among several projects she has been associated with, quite a few have been screened at International Film Festivals in Berlin, Tribeca, Venice as well as IFFI, MAMI and IFFK. The versatile filmmaker has also won several National & International awards for her craft.
Alongside active filmmaking, Anjali is also passionate about teaching. She is associated with Whistling Woods International as a faculty for the past 10 years.
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Sabyasachi Bose
Head of Department
Production Design
Sabyasachi Bose
Head of Department
Mr. Sabyasachi Bose graduated from the Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta (now, Kolkata) in 1992. In 1994, he began working in the field of Production Design first with Bijon Das Gupta, then Sanjay Dhabade and finally with late Samir Chanda.
He has been involved in film projects that include ‘Raja’ (1995), ‘Barsaat’ (1995), ‘Gupt- The Hidden Secret’ (1997), ‘Judaai’ (1997), ‘Chocolate – Deep Dark Secrets’ (2005) and ‘Krrish’ (2006), besides TV serials such as ‘Chandrakanta’, the theatre production ‘Legend of Rama’, along with shows such as ‘Manikchand Filmfare Awards’, ‘Hum Ek Hai’, and ad shows for companies like Samsung, Onida, BPL, Tata, Britannia, MRF Tyres, Apollo Tyres, Times of India, Anandalok, etc.
Simultaneously, he has participated in art exhibitions such as, ‘Exhibition’ organised by ‘Indian International Art Centre’ at Kolkata in 1992, ‘Annual Art Exhibition- 1996-97’ organised by ‘The Art Society of India’ (Mumbai), ‘9th Harmony Show’ organised by the ‘Art Trust’, co-organised by the ‘Textile Division, Reliance Industries’ at Mumbai (2004) and ‘Art Watch’ organised by ‘Galerie 88’ at Kolkata (2004) etc.
He has been associated with Whistling Woods International for more than a decade and currently working as the HOD in the Production Design Department, WWI. At WWI, he also teaches History of Art courses.
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Rohit Kumar
Faculty
Rohit Kumar
Faculty
Mr. Rohit Kumar a graduate from the Asian Academy of Film and Television, Noida with 17 years of extensive experience in the industry in almost all aspects of the business. His knows 360° approach to Media & Communications and has experience in taking a project right from conceptualisation down to its final execution. His portfolio ranges from TV channels, production houses, to filmmaking and all working with the stalwarts of the industry. He works in multiple format of filmmaking both technically and creatively.
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Santosh Raut
Faculty
Santosh Raut
Faculty
Mr. Santosh Raut who passed out from “Model Art Institute” Mumbai in 1992, soon started working in the field of Production Design first with Nitin Chandrakant Desai and then with Sanjay Dhabade. He has been involved in film projects and TV serials that includes “Chanakya”(1990), “Mriganayani” (1993), “1942: A Love Story” (1994), “Akele Hum Akele Tum” (1995), “Baazi” (1995), “Katha Doan Ganapatravanchi” (1996), “Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), “The Hero: Love Story of a Spy” (2003), “Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo” (2004), “Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets” (2005), “Vivah” (2006), “Ek Vivaah… Aisa Bhi” (2008), “Khulay Asmaan Kay Neechay” (2008), “Veer” (2010), and an international project named “The Other Side of the Door” (2016). Simultaneously he was also involved in shows like “Manikchand Filmfare Awards”, “Sansui Film Awards”, “Zee Film Awards”, “Hum Ek Hain”, “Zee Music Awards”, “Lata Mangeshkar Sangeet Rajani”, “Aasha Bhosle Show”, “A. R. Rahman Show” at Dubai besides promotion shows for companies like “BPL, Samsung, LG, and Britannia”. He is currently working as the “Set Construction” faculty in the Production Design department, WWI.
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Anjum Rajabali
Head of Department
Screenwriting
Anjum Rajabali
Head of Department
Mr. Anjum Rajabali is a veteran screenwriter, with films like Drohkaal, Ghulam, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Raajneeti, and Toofaan (under production) to his name. He has also been a script consultant and advisor to numerous films, most recently Mulk, Article 15, Thappad.
In 2004, he designed and created India’s first full-fledged Screenplay Writing department at the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune and was its Honorary Head for 12 years. Since 2006, he has been the Founder-Head of Screenwriting at Whistling Woods International, Mumbai.
He regularly conducts screenwriting workshops and masterclasses in India and abroad, and has convened several national screenwriting conferences, seminars, fellowships, script contests for Indian screenwriters.
He was chosen for the ‘Leading International Teacher’ 2019 award by CILECT, the association of more than 180 major film schools across the world.
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Ashwini Malik
Faculty | Head of Curriculum Planning
Ashwini Malik
Faculty
Mr. Ashwini Malik went to India’s premier film school, Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), to study Film Direction. His graduation film, The Waiter in Slow Motion, was in official competition at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 1995. Ashwini began his career in television, and wrote, directed and produced many fiction and non-fiction shows, including several hour-long thrillers in the popular Saturday Suspense series. In 2002, he directed his first feature film, Clever & Lonely, which was shown at many international film festivals. Since 2004, Ashwini has been involved in teaching Screenwriting and regularly conducts masterclasses and workshops in India and abroad. He has been a mentor at several script labs, including New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters (by Asia Society), Mumbai Mantra Cinerise Screenwriting Programme, the MAISHA film labs in East Africa, NFDC’s script development workshop and the Indo-German Screenwriting programme. Most recently, he presented a paper at the CILECT Congress 2019, in Moscow. His screenwriting credits include I Am, Road, Movie and Sorry Bhai.
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Vikas Sharma
Faculty
Vikas Sharma
Faculty
Mr. Vikas Sharma is a professional screenwriter of the Hindi film industry, a freelance script consultant, and a full-time senior faculty of Screenwriting at Whistling Woods International since January 2016. Before Whistling Woods, he taught scriptwriting at the Film and TV Institute of India, Pune, from April 2011 to December 2015. He conducts screenplay writing workshops in India and abroad for Film Schools, Media Colleges, Universities, Film Festivals, Skill India Programme, etc.
Vikas has also been a mentor and an advisor for various script labs and fellowships such as Asia Society’s New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters, 100 Storyteller Programme, Cinerise Screenwriting Programme, Cinestaan India’s Script Contest, to name a few.
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Juhi Shekhar
Faculty
Juhi Shekhar
Faculty
Ms. Juhi Shekhar has had an outstanding career in the film and television industries. She has written scripts for major banners such as Anil Kapoor Productions, Planman Motion pictures, Ram Gopal Verma, and Yellow Pictures by Anand Rai. In television, Juhi has written screenplays for Gumrah, the show was awarded the best crime show at ITA and Favorita crime Drama at Peoples’ choice. Her contribution to Star Plus’s Arjun got nominated for ITA in the best screenplay category. Ms. Shekar also developed scripts and creatives for a Marathi show Tanishka for Saam TV. She worked as 2nd assistant director on a serial produced by UTV called ‘Bombay talking’ directed by Anand L Rai and telecasted on Z café, and even directed 26 episodes of a talk show called, “Yaadein” for Door Darshan. Her directorial experience includes working as an assistant director on Manish Jha’s feature film Anwar and on Anand L Rai’s “Thodi life thoda magic”. Her rich portfolio includes writing, co-production and acting in a 15-minute short film on female child abuse named “MOAM” shown on NDTV Profit- The Indie Film Club. Juhi also collaborated with Mr. Shahrukh Khan on an Ad film for Nokia.
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Ipek Ghashghaie
Faculty
Ipek Ghashghaie
Faculty
Ms. Ipek Ghashghaie has undertaken her bachelor’s degree in Direction from Sooreh Art University, Tehran, Iran and diploma in Screenwriting from Whistling Woods International.
She started her career directing documentary films in Iran and acting in theatre.She wrote a couple of short screenplays that have been made by her along with other directors. The same were screened at international short film festivals,of which the latest wereZinebi Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films 2019.
Ipek has proven expertise in writing short and feature scripts and developing original ideas.Currently, she is writing series for Iranian TV and working on featuresand short scripts as a freelance writer.She has taken part in various international filmmaking workshops and has the experience of seeing and being a part of the filmmaking process in different cultures.
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Sudipta Basu
Head of Department
Sound Recording & Design
Sudipta Basu
Head of Department
Mr. Sudipta Basu is a Sound Recording and Engineering Diploma graduate from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. He is the first Indian engineer to successfully design and fabricate the first Indian made Forward-Reverse projector to run in Interlock with Westrex Rock & Roll recording system in standard speed reverse. He singlehandedly installed the first such system at the studios in India. He has worked as a sound recordist for some renowned directors. Twice he was a member of the Technical Committee of IFFI (International Film festival Of India; held in Kolkata). He was also a member of the Technical Committee and Academic council of The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata. He has been associated with Whistling Woods International for more than a decade and now heads the department of Sound Recording & Design.
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Rakesh Ranjan
Faculty
Rakesh Ranjan
Faculty
Mr. Rakesh Ranjan has over 43 years of working experience in Hindi Cinema and has worked with leading Producers & Directors in over 170 Features. Some of the stalwarts that he has worked with include names like Sunil Dutt, Subash Ghai, Ramesh Sippy, Saawan Kumar, Mahesh Bhatt, Prakash Jha, Raj Santoshi, Sunny Deol, David Dhawan, Dharmendra, Abbas Mustan, Ajay Devgan, Vikram Bhatt, Mani Ratnam, Aziz Mirza, N Chandra, Anees Bazmee, Simmi Garewal, Rohit Shetty, Prabhudeva and many more. He has worked in projects like Souten, Naam, Sadak, Ghaayal, Andaaz Apna Apna, Ghatak, Mrityudand, Damini, Barsat, Paredes, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Taal, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Yaadein, Ashoka, The Legend Of Bhagat Singh, Aitraaz, Main Hoorn Na, Guru, Race, A Wednesday, Dillagi, Aks, Black & White, Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani, Paan Singh Tomar, Raavan, Golmaal, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, Singham, Chennai Express, Satyagrah, Phata Poster Nikla Hero, Singham Returns, Action Jackson, Jai Gangajal, Golmaal Again, Simmba, etc. He has received a number of accolades and recognition for his work which include 4 Filmfare, 2 Screen, 1 Zee, and 1 IIFA. AUDEUS, a recording division of Mukta Arts was designed by him, bringing digital audio post-production into the Hindi Motion Picture Industry. He also designed DHWANI, a recording division of Prakash Jha Production.
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Bhaskar Roy
Faculty
Bhaskar Roy
Faculty
Mr. Bhaskar Roy, a graduate from FTII, Pune, is a professional sound editor, location sound mixer, film sound mixer, and system integrator. He has worked with renowned professionals of the Indian Film Industry like Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Konkana Sen Sharma, Rituparno Ghosh, Sudhir Mishra to name a few. His notable projects include films like Black, Bluffmaster!, Kaanchi, Rang Desh among others.
Bhaskar Roy is an Avid Certified Trainer and has also worked as a part-time instructor with Fairlight Inc.
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Tanmoy Basu
Faculty
Tanmoy Basu
Faculty
Mr. Tanmoy Basu has an academic background of B.S.C in Economics, Masters in Sociology and PG Diploma in Audiography from FTII Pune.As a sound student in FTII he learned to love sound and since then he has been working as an independent sound designer for films, many of which have got numerous awards in national and international film competitions. He has also learned Indian classical Music from pandit Rajendra Kulkarni and has been working as a music composer as well for various Ads, short films, Animated films and TV shows.He is also a founder member of a Mumbai based musical band named GANGOTRI. His research work ‘Violin Making and challenges’ is a published matter in LENSIGHT magazine and opens out the a scientific understanding of how global warming can affect the acoustical musical instruments.MrBasu is currently member of Governing Council of Media and Entertainment Skill Council.
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Salim Arif
Head of Department
Culture Studies
Mohammad Salim Arif
Head of Department
Culture Studies
Mr. Salim Arif is an illustrious alumnus of National School of Drama, New Delhi. A well-known name in the field of Indian Theatre and Films, Salim Arif is currently the Head of Culture Studies at Whistling Woods International, Mumbai. He is also associated with Ladakh International Film Festival and Navi Mumbai Film Festival as Director, Cultural Affairs.
Shyam Benegal’s Bharat Ek Khoj, Gulzar’s Mirza Ghalib, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwedi’s Chanakya got him International recognition as a Period Film Designer of substance. Nirja Guleri’s Chandrakanta, Ketan Mehta’s Sardar Patel, Gulzar’s Maachis & Hu-Tu-Tu, Govind Nihalani’s Takshak and Anil Sharma’s Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo are his other films as a Designer. He has been a consultant for period details in Anil Sharma’s Gadar and Mani Ratnam’s Guru.
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Dee Wood
Faculty
Dee Wood
Faculty
Mr. Dee Woods is an American musician, a composer, instrumentalist and educator based in India from the past 35 years. He has been teaching music at Whistling Woods International since its inception and has guided and mentored hundreds of aspiring film makers and musicians. Wood began his career in music performing in blues and rock bands in the Chicago area and went on to earn a BA in Music at Berklee College of Music. After graduation, Wood performed in Jazz and Latin groups and conducted workshops in varied institutions including Boston Ballet, MIT, Harvard, Whitney Museum of American Art and Berklee College of Music. He went on to earn a MA from Beacon College studying West African drum ensemble music in Togo West Africa, and Hindustani music in Bombay India. He went on to do extensive musical research in Mumbai on a Fulbright research scholarship. Wood has collaborated internationally with various musicians. His film credits include composing original music for films with Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, Kabir Mohanty, Nilita Vachani, Anand Patwardhan, Victor Banerjee, Dev Benegal and Ruchir Joshi. Currently D. Wood performs as a bassist / composer and takes masterclasses in India and abroad.
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Alumni Speak
Abhishek Jain
Founder, CineMan Productions Limited
Abhishek Jain
Coming from a non-film family background, Whistling Woods International proved to be my entry into the world of cinema. Though it has been over a decade, I still distinctly remember my first day at the campus. In fact, most of my best memories so far has WWI in its epicentre. Be it the infrastructure, faculty, placement, masterclasses, industry exposure or the evaluation process, everything has been so wonderful and smooth that I never felt I am unaware of the film background. Here, at WWI, I made friends for life and now we work together professionally too. Every new recruitment drive for my production house starts and ends at WWI. Till date, I go back to the film school to learn and unlearn this ever-evolving medium. I am grateful and truly blessed to have WWI as my alma mater, don’t know if I wouldn’t have been here, where would I be, today.
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Chahat Sawant
Celebrity Manager, CAA KWAN
Chahat Sawant
Hailing from a non-film background, Whistling Woods International has given me a perspective for a better career into films and film aesthetics. WWI helped me build knowledge in all the aspects of film making. The faculty has trained us not only on the theory bases but also practically. Whistling Woods International is the right place to start a career into the media and film industry. Because of WWI, I feel working professionally is much easier.
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Vinay Jogi
Production Assistant, Dharma Productions
Vinay Jogi
I was always interested in how films are made and what all goes behind the scenes to make a film. I came across the name Whistling Woods International and later after giving a few thoughts I felt that there can be no better place or institution than WWI to pursue Filmmaking and Media Studies. All our faculties of the respective departments always welcomed us with our queries and doubts. The curriculum helped me know my skills better and which department I should specialise in the final year. WWI has also been a great place for my personality development. I don’t think I would have ever been a part of such amazing masterclasses with all the top-most personalities from Hindi Cinema, at a very young age. 5th Veda sessions and masterclasses are the events where many of the well-known personalities from the industry come and speak about their art and experience in the field. After I graduated from WWI, the placement cell with their constant efforts kept encouraging us with how to go ahead with the growing industry and guided us according to our specialisation and our capabilities.
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